Friday, November 6, 2009

Life's Lotto

Every person who stands in line to play their numbers in hopes of winning the Lotto can relate to the phrase, “I won! I’ve hit the jackpot!” We all dream of saying those words, I suppose.

In truth, I feel like I can say that I have won the jackpot. You see, I believe in different types of jackpots. Sure there’s the jackpot where you win the big money and you never have to worry again about the material things in life but to me, the real jackpot is the jackpot of life, the one where you have love, family, friends and good health. Those are the things you can’t buy with money, not even that big Lotto.

This past weekend I was reminded of this again when all six of the grandkids came over for a “cousin sleepover.” Two of the granddaughters were already at our house because they were staying for the weekend while their parents were away. As each group of the other cousins arrived, they were greeted by squeals and giggling and immediately disappeared into the kids’ room to play. They have a television and a Wii and a Karaoke machine in the room so they have plenty of entertainment but their biggest excitement is just being together to play. If I didn’t go in occasionally to offer drinks and snacks, I’m convinced they would stay in there for hours.

The ages range from twelve down to almost six but they manage to find things that they all want to participate in. From games to performing different tunes on the karaoke to just sitting around being silly, they revel in the opportunity to just be with each other.

We ordered pizza for dinner and they never missed a beat with their conversation and laughter as they sat around the table. Each seems to hold his own contributing to the group discussions. At the bar nearby, we can only laugh as we eat our pizza because we certainly can’t keep up with their stories and sometimes, just plain silliness. But, it’s okay because seeing the six of them together like this is more joyous to me than any thing I can imagine.

If I had that Lotto jackpot, I’d still want to be sitting at my bar in my kitchen watching my grandkids laugh and talk knowing that they are connected for life by being cousins.

Later that night, I peeked in to see them sleeping, the three girls in the guest room and the three boys in the kids’ room and I smiled to myself knowing the Lotto numbers called later would make very little difference to me. You don’t have to play numbers to win life’s Lotto; you just have to be Blessed.